By Abiola Olawale
The protracted leadership crisis of the Labour Party (LP), has once again swung in favour of Julius Abure as the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday affirmed him as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
The Appellate Court, in its ruling, set aside the decision of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court which last year restrained Abure and two others from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
In the judgement delivered by the presiding judge, Justice Hamma Barka, the Appellate Court held that7 the high court was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction on the matter.
The judge also slammed a fine of One million naira against the respondent, Lamidi Apapa.
The New Diplomat reports that the Labour Party has been enmeshed in a leadership crisis since the conclusion of the 2023 presidential election. The crisis became full blown after Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court had last year, granted an ex-parte order, ordering that Abure and two other national officers stop parading themselves as leaders of the party for allegedly forging national documents.
Since the judgement, the Labour Party has been torn into two factions, the Abure-led faction and the Apapa-led faction.
It would also be recalled that on February 21, 2024, Abure was arrested in Benin City, the Edo State capital, with viral videos showing him being manhandled by policemen, even as LP supporters fought to prevent his arrest.
The police had said Abure was arrested for attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, and related offences. The LP chairman was later released on bail the following day after protests by LP members.
